Small-Block Crate Engine - A Star Is Born

We look at star performance budget small-block crate engine.

If you are looking for a civilized crate motor with either a little or a fair bit of attitude for your project but your budget is tight, then Star Performance Products might have your answer. Star Performance Products in Corona, California, offers multiple crate motors from big-block to small-block, in just about every power and budget level you can think of. There is a 388hp 350ci small-block for $3,295, all the way up to a 655hp 496ci big-block for $7,995.

We spoke with Jeff Donker at Star Performance Products about his engine building philosophy and he told us, "We want to deliver as much engine as possible for the money. The combinations we use are tried and tested many times over. They are not exotic, but are solid performance packages that deliver power, reliability, looks, and sound at a very attractive price. Instead of spending the money on putting every engine on a dyno to prove what we already know, we chose to spend the money on better components like aluminum cylinder heads, stainless steel roller rockers, polished aluminum valve covers and air cleaner, high-volume aluminum water pump, 10mm plug wires, etc., so that the customer gets the most bang for the buck possible."

Jeff does estimate his recipes with a dyno program from ProRacing, just to make sure he's in his advertised ballpark.

We took a trip out to the Star Performance Products headquarters to follow along with a 0.040-over 350 buildup that a customer recently ordered. In this story we will show the components used in a Star build, and how it all gets put together.

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Small-Block Crate Engine - A Star Is Born

1 Star starts with a remanufactured GM four-bolt main block punched out 0.040 over, making it a 357. It’s fitted with a cast crank and rods, hypereutectic pistons, and moly rings. This is step one in the cost savings, and one reason Star can offer these crates at such a low cost. There are upgrades available, like steel cranks and forged pistons, but those come with added cost.

2 Star uses Procomp Electronics 3002S heads for this recipe. These have all the features of the more expensive heads out there, like bronze guides, hardened seats, three-angle valve job, and a heart-shaped combustion chamber. The combustion chamber design improves the flame front travel, and in turn improves efficiency. The heads come to Jeff unassembled, but with all the parts needed for assembly like guides, screw-in studs, and valvesprings. Jeff takes the time to measure installed height and seat pressure on the springs so they match the cam specs.

3 Jeff uses Procomp Electronics stainless steel swirl-polished valves, which he laps in so the valves seal perfectly on the seats.

4 With the springs figured out and the valves lapped in, Jeff thoroughly cleans the components and completes the final assembly of the head. He offers this tip for the do-it-yourself guys: “Make sure to lube the stems of the valves before installing them into the guides to prevent scoring them.”

5 For this engine, Jeff elected to use an Xtreme Energy Retro-Fit hydraulic roller camshaft from Comp Cams (PN 12-432-8). Here are the specs: Advertised duration is IN/282-EX/288; duration @ 0.050 in./230 ex./236; valve lift in./0.510 ex./0.520, with a 110 lobe separation. According to Comp, this is a good, streetable cam with a noticeable idle and an operating range of 2,200-5,800 rpm.

6 A double-roller timing chain is used on all builds, unless you want something different like a gear drive. This engine received a cam button to prevent excessive cam walk since it has a roller cam. Another DIY tip from Jeff is to oil the timing chain to prevent wear during initial start-up.

7 With the pickup tapped into the oil pump, Jeff makes sure it will be about 1/2 to 1/4 inch from the pan floor. When he is happy with the position of the pickup, he removes the top plate of the oil pump and welds the pickup in place. Removing the plate when welding the pickup prevents the electrical energy produced by the welder from possibly scarring the pump gears.

8 Having the plate off also allows Jeff to pre-prime the oil pump before putting the top back on.

9 With that, he buttons up the bottom end with a one-piece gasket and a chrome oil pan. Other oil pans are available; you just need to discuss that when ordering.

10 To make sure the head bolts are totally sealed, sealant is pushed down the threads in the block, as well as on the threads of the bolts.

11 With a gasket in place, Terry Lively drops the heads on the deck. They are then torqued to 70 lb-ft.

12 For this engine, Jeff uses a set of Street Series Retro-Fit hydraulic roller lifters from Howard’s Cams. They are designed for early- or late-model blocks, including blocks with tall lifter bosses. The lifters feature hardened and tempered steel alloy rollers, heat-treated stainless steel crossbars, and are intended for street applications up to 6,500 rpm. Before dropping them down into the lifter bores, Jeff soaks the rollers in oil to lube up the bearings.

13 The guide plates that came with the Procomp heads are placed under the screw-in studs. A little threadlocking compound is used to secure the stud once it’s torqued.

14 Before the threadlocking compound sets up, Jeff makes sure the guide plates are in the right place to line up the tips of the rocker arms over the valve stems. These 1.6-ratio stainless steel roller rockers are from Procomp. They are manufactured from 21M4 stainless steel, and according to Procomp are capable of withstanding valvespring load over 750 psi.

15 All the rockers are adjusted and then receive a nice slathering of oil to pre-lube the bearings.

16 Terry then lays a nice thick bead of silicone along the front edge of the block in preparation of the intake installation.

17 Terry carefully drops the intake in place, making sure he doesn’t upset the silicone along the front and back edges. The manifold is also a Procomp piece that features a dual-plane design with a larger plenum volume, and larger runners for increased airflow over stock. It will support up to 475 hp naturally aspirated, with an operating range of 1,500-6,500 rpm. This is right in line with the cam specs.

18 With the manifold all torqued down, Terry fills the engine with oil and primes it with a drill motor. Terry hooked up a gauge to see what kind of oil pressure the engine will have. He will keep priming till he sees oil flow from every rocker arm.

19 Star’s motors usually come with a ball-milled aluminum cover, but the customer decided to upgrade to these Chevrolet scripted covers from Ansen.

20 Jeff uses a Procomp Ready to Run distributor in this build. This small-body electronic unit has a maintenance-free magnetic pickup, adjustable mechanical advance, as well as vacuum advance canister. Terry drops the distributor in with a bit of advance, and Jeff sets up the advance curve to match the cam, so it should be pretty dang close when the customer hits the key for the first time.

21 All Star engines receive new plugs (this engine got a set of Autolite 3924s), Procomp Electronics 10.2mm wires, and polished wire holders. The wires can be ordered in red, black, or blue, with different angles on the boots to clear just about any exhaust system.

22 All engines come with a Procomp Electronics performance balancer rated to 8,000 rpm. Upgraded fluid-type balancers are also available.

23 The engine is topped off with a 600-cfm vacuum secondary carb jetted specifically for this application.

24 The final pieces of the build include an aluminum water pump (short or long) and air cleaner assembly. The engines can be picked up if you are local to Southern California, or can be crated up and shipped right to your door. Each engine carries a 12-month or 12,000-mile warranty, whichever comes first, on all parts and workmanship. Jeff ran this recipe through his ProRacing Dyno Sim 4 program, and the computer estimated this engine will produce 421 hp @ 6,000 and 419 lb-ft of torque @ 4,000. This should be a perfect mill for a cruiser that still wants a little lump in the cam.

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